Cathardincu
Surprisingly incoherent and boring
JinRoz
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
Uriah43
"Paul Collier" (Cameron Mitchell) is an architect who drives into a small town in search of his girlfriend, "Karen" (Diane Ladd) who is noticeably pregnant. He wants to marry her but she essentially wants to raise her child all by herself. As it so happens, a gang of motorcyclists known as "the Rebels" rides into this same town and begins causing trouble. Fortunately for Paul, the leader of the gang, "J. J. Weston" (Bruce Dern) is an old high school acquaintance of his and because of that they are on good terms with one another. Unfortunately, J. J. doesn't quite have as much control over some of the more violent members of the gang and when they take an interest in Karen things begin to turn extremely ugly. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this film wasn't nearly as fun or exciting as it should have been due in large part to the chaotic script and lackluster direction. Additionally, I personally didn't care for the use of a pregnant woman as a sex object. But maybe that's just me. In any case, I would think that having a cast which included Jack Nicholson, Harry Dean Stanton and the aforementioned Bruce Dern and Cameron Mitchell would have been more than enough to ensure a somewhat interesting biker film. Apparently, the director (Martin B. Cohen) wasn't up to the task and because of this I have to rate this film as below average.
Bolesroor
"The Rebel Rousers" is a short, sloppy biker pic from 1970 that showcased future stars like Harry Dean Stanton, Dianne Ladd, Bruce Dern & Jack Nicholson. The cast is so good they give gravity to an otherwise disposable film.The plot is silly... a biker gang terrorizes a young married couple because... because the script says so. Much of the dialogue sounds improvised, and many of the scenes run far too long on one note, the result of under-edited footage... or an experimental director. It's Nicholson and Ladd who steal the show... when they're on screen you see no one else, and they're simply ten times more Watchable than anyone else around them.If you're a huge fan of Jack, Diane or biker flicks you may want to check this out... but it's safe to say that all involved would go onto greater things.GRADE: C
Michael_Elliott
Rebel Rousers, The (1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Silly but mildly entertaining biker flick about a man (Cameron Mitchell) who travels to a small town to try and get back his pregnant wife (Diane Ladd) but while the two are talking he's beaten and she's kidnapped by a biker gang led by Bruce Dern. The battered husband manages to make it back to town where he tries to find someone to help him. The highlight of this film is the wonderful cast as we get not only Mitchell, Dern and Ladd but supporting performances by Jack Nicholson and Harry Dean Stanton. As far as biker films goes this one here is a long way away from titles like EASY RIDER and THE WILD ANGELS but there's enough mild charm here to make this worth viewing. The film runs a fairly short 78-minutes and I do wonder if there's some stuff on the cutting room floor as there are a few side plots that never really add up to much and we even get some questionable moments from start to finish. We're told that Mitchell and Dern played football together but this never really adds up to anything. We get the escape scene with Mitchell taking off yet it's never quite clear why his wife doesn't try to escape with him. Probably because if she had then the movie would have ended right there. The kidnapping leads to a pretty good ending when some Mexican guys with rakes show up to get back Mitchell's wife as well as one of their daughters who was delivering tacos to the bikers!!! Mitchell is a real head-scratcher here as he pretty much sleepwalks through the role and his scenes crying are pretty funny as there's obviously no real emotion behind them. Ladd is charming as the wife and it's always fun seeing Stanton no matter how small the role is. Dern clearly steals the show as the "mature" biker who is always saying the right thing even though it's hard to trust what he's saying. Finally, there's Nicholson wearing some zebra colored pants that are a real hoot. Fans of the genre will want to check this one out but others should see the classics first.
wentz_nicholas
I think that "The Rebel Rousers" is not even close to the worst biker movie ever made. I think this is quite good on a low budget. Bruce Dern is always cool and my hero Jack Nicholson is the best "Rebel" I think this beats the hell out of "The Wild Angels" which even though the talented and groovy duo of Dern and Peter Fonda were in it. I think "The Wild Angels" is the worst biker film ever made, not "The Rebel Rousers". Granted that I wish that there were more scenes of actual motorcycle riding and that most of the movie took place on a beach. I enjoy the opening music of the movie and the location in which the film was shot. Jack Nicholson is delightfully sadistic as "Bunny" especially where he beats the hell out of Cameron Mitchell. The biggest kick I got out of seeing Jack in this movie is his black and white striped pants. Bruce Dern is out of sight as the "Rebels" leader, "J.J." Bruce is much better in this part than his role as "Loser" in "The Wild Angels" which reminded me of Terry Kiser in "Weekend At Bernie's" where they all drag Bruce's dead body around.
